The present invention relates to telephones and more particularly to mobile telephones having antennas and/or speakers that are movably mounted about the housing of the telephone.
More than any other factor, consumer demand for lightweight and compact cellular telephones has driven the mobile telephone industry to continually reduce the size of the electronic hardware associated with these handheld phones in order that the size of the overall phone package may also be reduced accordingly. While such lightweight and compact phones may be easily carried on the user""s person as a result of the reduced physical size, it is sometimes the case that the ease of operation of the resulting compact phone unit is impaired. In particular, the antenna traditionally employed on such compact cellular telephones is often required to be positioned so close to the user""s head during operation that it can affect the efficiency of the antenna itself and impair the user""s ability to easily handle the phone. While typical cellular phones employ either a rigid telescoping antenna or a flexible fixed length antenna, such antennas are still disposed in close proximity to the user""s head during use, and therefore can interfere with the user""s ability to easily operate the phone.
In addition to the above concerns, the small physical size of the cellular telephone unit can also present concerns with regard to the relative positioning of the speaker and microphone of the phone. More particularly, the desire to produce a phone unit that is small and physically compact often results in a phone which has a relatively short separation or distance between the speaker and the microphone. In some cases, the speaker to microphone separation can be so small that the phone is difficult to use. That is, the speaker and microphone are positioned so close to one another that it is difficult for the ear and mouth of a user to be positioned sufficiently close to the speaker and microphone such that audio can be clearly transmitted between the user and the phone.
Therefore, there continues to be a need for a practical, cost effective cellular or mobile phone which is lightweight and physically compact, and which further provides an overall phone design where the antenna does not interfere with the use of the phone and wherein the effective distance between the speaker and microphone can be extended in order to position the speaker and microphone closer to the user""s ear and mouth respectively.
The present invention entails a mobile telephone having a movable antenna and speaker. In one embodiment, the telephone is provided with a folding antenna that is movable back and forth between a retracted position where the antenna lies closely adjacent to the housing of the telephone and an extended position where the antenna projects outwardly away from the telephone housing. In another embodiment, the telephone includes a movable speaker that moves between a retracted position where the speaker is disposed adjacent the telephone housing and an extended position where the speaker extends outwardly away from the housing and the distance between the speaker and the microphone is increased.
In one particular embodiment of the present invention, the telephone includes both a movable speaker and antenna. Here the speaker and antenna are coaxially mounted about a transverse pivot axis that is disposed about an upper or top portion of a telephone. Both the speaker and antenna rotate about the pivot axis and are movable between retracted and extended positions. In the retracted position, both the speaker and antenna fold against the front or keyboard area of the telephone, with the speaker itself being sandwiched between the front panel of the telephone housing and the antenna which in this embodiment may include a generally planar or panel type antenna. When extended, the speaker and antenna are rotated from the retracted position where the speaker assumes an intermediate position between the front of the telephone housing and the antenna while the antenna is further rotated away from the speaker such that there are angular separations between the front of the telephone housing, the speaker and the antenna.
More particularly, in one design, the antenna assumes a generally L-shaped configuration and includes first and second legs. In this case, the pivot axis is disposed across the top-back edge portion of the telephone housing. In the retracted position, the L-shaped antenna is folded back against the telephone housing such that the first leg overlies a top portion of the housing while the second leg overlies a portion of the front of the telephone housing. As suggested above, in this case, a movable speaker can be provided and when the antenna is disposed in the retracted position, the speaker would assume a position underneath a portion of the antenna.
Finally, in another embodiment of the present invention, the mobile telephone is provided with a speaker that is movable generally rectilinearly between retracted and extended positions. In this case, when the speaker assumes a retracted position it lies within the general confines of the telephone housing as a whole. However, when the speaker is moved to an extended position the speaker tends to project up and outwardly from the confines of the telephone housing.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a small and physically compact mobile telephone with an efficient antenna that does not substantially impair the use of the telephone.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a small and physically compact mobile telephone with a movable speaker that permits the distance between a microphone associated with the telephone and the speaker to be extended such that the speaker and the microphone can be positioned closer to the mouth and ear of the user of the telephone.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent and obvious from a study of the following description and the accompanying drawings which are merely illustrative of such invention.